New Guangzhou leader plans 'happy city'
Updated: 2011-12-29 14:37
By Qiu Quanlin (chinadaily.com.cn)
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GUANGZHOU?- The authorities' core mission in the southern metropolis over the next five years will be to accelerate its industrial transformation and build a "happy Guangzhou", said the newly elected Party chief.
"We will attach more importance to improving people's livelihoods," Wan Qingliang said on Wednesday.
Wan said the authorities will give the utmost priority to people's livelihoods by improving public facilities and welfare.
"We will do our utmost to promote equal public services, basic social security and healthcare, so more people benefit from the city's economic development," Wan said.
Guangzhou's GDP is expected to hit 1.24 trillion yuan (?in 2011, a year-on-year increase of 11 percent, according to Wang Xundong, director of Guangzhou Statistics Bureau.
"We have talked about the concept of 'people first' for quite a long time and it is now time to let more people benefit from the rapid economic development," said Li Jiangtao, a researcher with the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences.
Li said that the city's minimum wage should reflect its growth in GDP.
According to the local human resource and social security bureau, the minimum wage in Guangzhou will be likely increased by 13 percent to about 1,500 yuan a month next year,
But besides the salary increase, Li said the government should build more effective systems to promote public services for rural residents and migrant workers.
During the of the four-day local Party congress, which ended on Tuesday, the Party committee approved a proposal to accelerate development of the city's suburbs, including Conghua, Zengcheng and Huadu districts, where most rural residents have not benefited from the the city's boom.
The next five years will also see the city transform its industrial structure.
"We will no longer rely on the traditional labor-intensive industries to realize the economic growth target. Instead, strategic emerging industries and low-carbon economies will be given priority in the years ahead," Wan said.